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Voltage Optimisation

What is Voltage Optimisation?

Voltage optimisation is about reducing and stabilising the voltage coming into your property, whether it’s your home or your business, to reduce energy consumption, save up to 10% on your electricity bill and reduce your carbon footprint.

How does it work?

The statutory range for voltage across Europe is from 207V to 253V. In the UK it averages at around 245V, but can be anywhere on the above scale depending upon your local network supply.

A Voltage Optimisation device is connected to the incoming electricity supply before it reaches your fuse board (it’s about the same size as your fuse board and sits next to it). There are different types of device which generally operate in one of two ways:

Reduce the incoming voltage to a defined level e.g. 220V or

Reduce the incoming voltage by a set amount e.g. by 20V

The danger of the second option is that if your incoming supply varies at different times and drops to a level just above the statutory limit, the voltage optimisation device may take it below the statutory limit. For this reason we favour devices which reduce the voltage to a certain level i.e. 220V. This may mean that the device is not worthwhile if your voltage is generally at the lower end of the scale.

Benefits & Pitfalls

The main benefit of reduced and stabilised voltage is that appliances and equipment will run more efficiently…

Lower Voltage = Less kWh of electricity used and billed!

“A 230V appliance used on a 240V supply will take 4.3% more current and will consume almost 9% more energy.”– Wikipedia

Another benefit of voltage optimisation is that it removes ‘spikes’ in your incoming supply which can be damaging to electrical equipment.

On the down side, a lower voltage may make some lights become dimmer or the electric shower may become slightly less hot at a given setting.

To see if you would benefit from a Voltage Optimisation Device you can test your incoming voltage quite easily with a plug in energy meter. If your supply is running at a level higher than 220V then a Voltage Optimisation Device will save you money! And the beauty of it is that once it’s fitted, you don’t have to do anything more for the next 25 years of its life…just enjoy the benefits of a lower electricity bill.